Betis wins in Helsinki in the Europa League and Villarreal opens with victory in the Conference League

Betis, in captain Joaquin’s 500th game for the Verdiblanco team, won 0-2 against Helsinki and took the lead in group C of the Europa League. Joaquin has played 386 First Division games with Betis; 41 from the King’s Cup; 38 from Second Division; 26 from the Europa League; 8 from the Champions League and one from the Spanish Super Cup. In the other match of the group, the Roma coached by Jose Mourinho fell unexpectedly at Ludogorest (2-1), which opens the fight for first place in the group, which allows direct access to the round of 16. Europa League final.

Manuel Pellegrini, Betic coach, made up to 10 changes with respect to the team that played in the League against Madrid. The clash began with bad news for the Verdiblanco interests, since Juanmi was injured in minute 4 and his injury could be serious in the ankle. Pellegrini could lose a fundamental player for a long time, who went straight to the hospital after his injury. The clash was played on an artificial turf field and this circumstance caused the complaints of the Betis team. Betis had some problems beating Helsinki, but little by little they showed their superiority. A penalty on the stroke of half-time converted by Willian Jose and another goal by the Brazilian in the 64th minute certified the fair victory of the Andalusian team, which takes the lead in the group waiting to host Ludogorest next Thursday.

Villarreal went through more trouble to defeat the Polish Lech Poznan (4-3) in the Conference. The team led by Unai Emery, who changed the entire starting eleven, went 3-1 and the Poles tied at three with half an hour to go. A great goal by Coquelin from the edge of the area gave Villarreal the victory in the 89th minute. Austria Vienna and Beer Sheva tied (0-0) in the other Group C match of this Conference League.

Villarreal was very successful in attack, although their problems in defense caused the Polish team to reach their area on many occasions. Forward Ishak, from Lech, was the great protagonist of his team, since he scored the first goal and scored the remaining two.

Next Sunday, at the Benito Villamarin (9:00 p.m.), Betis and Villarreal will face each other in a duel at the top of the Primera classification. Betis is fourth with nine points and Villarreal third with 10.

You can follow EL PAIS Sports in Facebook Y Twitteror sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.